A message from the doctor popped up on the screen: "Strenuous activity may cause inflammation at the prosthetic's friction points. Advise limiting video analysis to 30-minute intervals." As Lin Mo stared at those words, a message from the boy came in—a clip of the Timberwolves' practice, his labored breathing audible between plays, like he'd been holding his breath to focus.
"When Towns bends to pick up the ball, his right knee juts out 1 centimeter." A red arrow in the video wobbled with Towns' movement, the boy's finger probably shaking when he drew it. "Same angle as my prosthetic's outward turn. He's afraid of pivoting—you can fake him out. Don't worry, I paused every 10 minutes like doc said."
Lin Mo turned to his teammates practicing defense and called out: "Mimic Towns' post moves, focusing on the knee movement when he picks up the ball." The system instantly generated an action comparison chart: Towns' game footage on the left, a teammate's imitation on the right, with [Joint angle deviation: 1.2 cm]. But his eyes kept drifting to the timestamp on the boy's video—47 minutes.
He sent the clip to the boy with a caption: "See? They're wrestling with their own 'unfamiliarity' too. And hey—your arrow's steadier than the system's. Take a nap, though. My coach says even Edwards rests."
Half an hour later, a reply came—a selfie of the boy in his wheelchair, hair damp with sweat, holding a bottle of lubricant, the label perfectly aligned with the camera after seven spins. "Just oiled my prosthetic—the seventh turn is the smoothest. Felt a twinge, but doc says that's normal. Towns shoots most accurately after the seventh dribble—tell your teammates to foul then. P.S. I napped! 10 whole minutes."
During a practice break, Booker suddenly grabbed Lin Mo: "That Miller guy—his sock slipped to his ankle during defense just now!" Sure enough, the guard was secretly hiking up his sock. The team erupted in laughter, and Lin Mo watched them, but his mind was on the boy's "10 whole minutes"—probably spent replaying footage instead of sleeping.
The system displayed the finals pressure index: [Team anxiety level down 12%]. Lin Mo knew—these noticed details were turning pressure into warm light. But he also knew: some lights burned brighter because someone was hiding the smoke.